2:40 PM PT — We’ve ID’d another legislator in the Edinburgh Castle crowd … Michigan’s Rep. Bill Huizenga is the guy in the blue jacket sitting against the wall. His spokesman told local outlet, Michigan Advance, what we’d already heard about this being a “long-planned, House Ethics-approved” trip to meet with foreign dignitaries. They left out the part about YOU paying for it, while the partial government shutdown continues.
Over two dozen members of Congress are on an overseas trip during the government shutdown … and it’s all being paid for by taxpayers while tons of federal workers go unpaid with rent due.
We’ve learned a whopping 30 members of Congress are on a trip to Scotland right now, and it’s being funded with our tax dollars … despite the partial government shutdown triggered by Congress failing to do its job. Now all of them have bailed and are enjoying a 2-week Spring Break. Employees of FEMA, the Coast Guard, and other agencies are not as lucky — they’re worrying about putting food on their table and keeping a roof over their heads.
BTW … members of Congress continue to draw a paycheck, uninterrupted.
TMZ obtained photos of Congress members on the Scotland trip, which included a stop at a tourist hot spot … Edinburgh Castle. A large group of Congress members toured the castle.
Our photos show Virginia Rep. John McGuire, Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden, North Carolina Rep. David Rouzer, New York Rep. Claudia Tenney, and Missouri Rep. Jason Smith.
Congress is not supposed to take taxpayer-funded trips like this during a government shutdown — or so we thought — but it sounds like they’re getting around it because this is a partial shutdown. The way we see it, a shutdown is a shutdown.
We contacted reps for the Congress members we’ve seen in Scotland … and a spokesperson for Van Orden told us, “DVO is joining more than 30 other members of Congress on a delegation that was pre-approved by the House Ethics Committee months ago. The trip focuses on economic development, foreign partnerships, and business engagement, including meetings with members of Parliament and other international officials.”
Van Orden also told us he voted 4 times to fund DHS. To that we say … it’s not one party that is at fault here, it’s BOTH, because they can’t compromise and therefore do their job.
As you know, TMZ is on the hunt — internationally — for photos and videos of members of Congress who are taking trips while thousands of federal workers go unpaid … so for anyone in Scotland or elsewhere, send us your photos!!!
